What are Scientific and Natural Areas?

The Scientific and Natural Areas Program preserves Minnesota's natural heritage (ecological and geological diversity maintained for present and future generations) for scientific study and public understanding.

Characteristics that distinguish Natural Areas include:

• Undisturbed plant communities, such as prairie or peatlands
• Rare or endangered species habitat, such as the sunny rock outcrops needed for the five-lined skink
• Seasonal habitat for bird or animal concentrations, such as herons, egrets and the endangered piping plover
• Natural geologic formations and features, such as eskers and rock outcrops
• Plant communities undergoing succession as a result of natural processes, such as old-growth forests

Goals

• Primary — Ensure that Minnesota's natural heritage is not lost from any ecological region of the state.
• Secondary — Provide compatible nature-based recreation, education and scientific research opportunities.

History

In the mid-1960s concerned citizens urged Minnesota to become one of the first states to create state-owned and managed Natural Areas. In 1965, a 15-member panel of experts in biology and geology called the Commissioner's Natural Heritage Advisory Committee was formed to advise the DNR Commissioner on Natural Areas and to encourage the legislature to establish a program.

State-administered Scientific and Natural Areas were initially authorized by the Minnesota Legislature in 1969 (M.S. 84.033). The first Scientific and Natural Area, Rush Lake Island, was acquired in 1974 to preserve a heron rookery.

In 1980, an incentive for private landowners to preserve their prairies was added to the program. Native Prairie Tax Exemption allows for exempting eligible lands from property taxes.

Natural Areas Registry recognizes public land containing exceptional natural features. Since 1982 the SNA program has developed agreements with land managers for ecological management of these areas.

In 1987, Native Prairie Bank conservation easements on private lands were added to the Scientific and Natural Area Program tool box (M.S. 84.96).

Today, over 160 SNAs and 120 Native Prairie Bank easements form the backbone of protected areas in the Program. These sites represent a diverse set of natural habitats across the state.

Minnesota Point Pine Forest SNA

This SNA hosts a magnificent old growth pine forest near the eastern tip of Minnesota Point, the 7-mile long sandbar that shelters the Duluth Harbor and Superior Bay from the open waters of Lake Superior. Large red and white pines are anchored in the sandy soil of beach ridges. Many are between 120 and 200 years old, their crowns rising higher than 100 feet.

It's an old forest on a geologically young sandbar which is itself a significant natural feature. Ideas about the origins of this baymouth bar system (which includes 3-mile long Wisconsin Point) are still evolving. Dr. Andy Breckenridge, University of WI-Superior, theorizes that it may have formed during a period of rising lake levels less than 1200 years ago, when sediments carried in longshore currents were deposited along a pre-existing beach ridge.

Together with the adjacent St. Louis River estuary, this is a hot spot for birds and birders. During spring and fall the Point serves as a critical stopover area for migratory birds funneling along the North Shore to rest and refuel. The SNA's old growth forest also offers summer breeding habitat for up to 16 species of northern forest birds.

As visitors enter the cool, shady forest of the SNA with its towering red and white pines, the benefits of its preservation are abundantly clear. There is nowhere else in Minnesota quite like it.